Yarn package support



Sept. 17, 1968 R. E. MORTON ET AL YARN PACKAGE SUPPORT 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Jan. 25, 1967 INVENTORS ROBERT E. MORTON CHARLES G. REYNOLDS W M 7 ATTORN EYS Sept. 17, 1968 R. E. MORTON ET AL 3,

YARN PACKAGE SUPPORT Filed Jan. 25, 1967 r 2 Sheets-Shed z INVENTORS ROB E. MORT CHA S G. REYN S United States Patent 3,401,901 YARN PACKAGE SUPPORT Robert E. Morton, Warwick, and Charles G. Reynolds,

Cranston, R.I., assignors to Leesona Corporation, Warwick, R.I., a corporation of Massachusetts Filed Jan. 25, 1967, Ser. No. 611,748 4 Claims. (Cl. 242129.5)

ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A yarn package support having an eccentrically movable support member and an eccentrically movable spindle for gripping and holding the package support in position therebetween.

The present invention relates to textile winding machinery and specifically to an improved yarn package support applicable thereto.

Throughout the specification and claims, the term yarn is used in the general sense to refer to all forms of strandular or elongated material, and the term package denotes a wound mass of yarn regardless of its shape.

It is known to support a plurality of yarn packages in age which, of course, then becomes the active unwinding package.

Conventional arrangements for supporting a supply package on a creel were sometimes unsatisfactory in that they did not maintain the package in a stationary or nonrotating condition throughout the unwinding operation. In some instances, the package was merely placed over a skewer in a loose fashion and in other insances, was held fixed by various fastening means. However, the vibrations attendant with normal machine operation were often effective to loosen the fastening means, if employed, and to cause the packages to slowly rotate on their spindles or skewers. As the packages rotated, the transfer tails joining the yarn between adjacent packages on the creel were often drawn taut by the excessive tensile forces imparted to the yarn. Eventually, the linkage formed by the joined transfer tails broke. If the break in the transfer tail went unnoticed, winding would be interrupted upon exhaustion of yarn on the last active package prior to the break and would result in a down or inactivated spindle.

A superior arrangement for supporting a supply package is disclosed herein which is efr'ective to overcome the aforementioned difficulties. Of utmost simplicity, the invention is economical to manufacture, easily used, and operable to position the package rigidly so as to prevent its undesired rotation.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a structure for rigidly but releasably supporting a yarn package.

Another object of the invention is the provision of a package supporting structure which employs an eccentric spindle and a base plate which cooperate to releasably engage the core of a yarn package.

A further object of the invention is to provide novel package supporting structure which is of simple and economical construction, easily used, and adapted to existing forms of yarn packages and textile machinery.

Other and further objects and advantages will be ob- 'ice vious or will appear hereinafter in the specification taken together with the accompanying drawings.

In the drawings, wherein like numerals refer to like parts throughout,

FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating a typical appli cation for the invention;

FIG. 2 is an elevation view, in section, illustrating one embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along lines 3-3 in FIG. 2; and

FIG. 4 is an elevation view, in section, and similar to FIG. 2, illustrating a modified form of the invention.

Turning now to the drawings and initially to FIG. 1, a creel portion of a winding machine is shown at 10. A pair of spindles 12 are suitably fixed to the creel 10 and extend outwardly therefrom, although it will be understood that the invention is applicable to a creel having any desired number of spindles thereon. On each of the spindles 12, and in a manner to be explained, are supported the yarn supply packages P. Following the custom, the transfer tail 14 consists of a free end from the base of say, the active unwinding package P appropriately united to a free end from the head end of the adjacent package P assuring that yarn will continue to be supplied from the latter reserve package P' when the yarn has been exhausted from the former active unwinding package P.

Referring to FIG. 2, the yarn package P is seen more clearly as being wound upon a dense core or holder 16 having an axially direct-ed central bore 18 extending at least part way therethrough. Although the holder 16 is shown in the drawings to be cylindrical in shape, the invention is applicable to a variety of shapes, a conical shape being another example. The holder 16 rests upon or engages a base plate 20 which is of circular shape, having a peripheral skirt-like flange 22 perpendicular to the Surface thereof. The flange 22 is provided with a smooth inner surface 24 and a knurled or otherwise roughened outer surface 26.

An axially directed bore 28 is suitably formed in the base plate 20 at a location eccentric or off-set relative to the flange 22 (see especially FIG. 3). The base plate 20 is supported on the spindle 12 which passes through the slightly larger bore 28 to the extent that the depressed surface 30 of the plate engages a shoulder 32. At the shoulder 32, the diameter of the upper region of spindle 12 increases abruptly to define an enlarged portion 34 whose axis is offset or eccentric relative to the axis of the lower end of spindle 12 by an amount proportioned to the eccentricity of bore 28 relative to the peripheral flange 22.

The base plate 20 is held against axial movement on the spindle 12 by means of shoulder 32 and a retainer ring 36 which holds a washer 38 against the boss 40. Although the base plate is substantially held against lengthwise movement on spindle 12, it is free to turn thereon with the spindle held fixed.

In operation, the holder 16 on which the yarn package P is wound is slipped onto the spindle in the usual fashion until its innermost or base end bears against or at least is positioned in close proximity to the depressed surface 30. At this instant, it is preferable that the base plate 20 be turned to a position on spindle 12 where their mutual eccentricities of the spindle and base plate are substantially neutralized. That is, the inner surface 24 is concentric with enlarged portion 34. Hence, the inner end of the holder 16 may be freely received within the region bounded by the flange 22. Thereupon, with the benefit of the knurled surface 26, the base plate 20 is manually turned on the spindle 12 until the inner surface 24 of the flange 22 is brought into firm engagement with the outer surface of the holder 16. The minimum distance 3 between the axis of the enlarged portion 34 and the inner surface 24 is achieved when the base plate 20 is rotated to a position on spindle 12 whereat their mutual eccentricities have reached a maximum condition. This minimum distance is of a value slightly smaller than the radius of the holder 16 to assure that the holder is cammcd against portion 34 and to thus assure a press or interference fit whereby the package P is rigidly gripped and supported between the inner surface 24 and portion 34 as shown in FIG. 2. With a properly determined dimension, normal machine vibrations or similar disturbances are ineffective to loosen the rigid grip thus achieved. At the same time, the holder 16 can be easily removed by turning the base plate in the direction opposite that required for the gripping operation and sliding the holder off the enlarged portion 34.

A modified construction of the invention is illustrated in FIG. 4. While the modified structure employs the same gripping principle disclosed heretofore, it is particularly applicable to gripping support those packages P Wound onto thin-walled holders 42 such as cones or tubes which are usually composed of deformable materials of the type including heavy paper and plastic. To this end, a base plate 20 identical to that earlier described, is received on a modified spindle 44 which is fixed to and extends outwardly from a creel in the manner illustrated in FIG. 1 relative to the earlier embodiment. The spindle 44 terminates at a gripping element 46 integral therewith and is preferably of disc shape, lying in a plane substantially perpendicular to the main axis of the spindle. The thickness of gripping element 46 is chosen to be similar to the depth of the depressed surface 30 and its axis is off-set or eccentric relative to the main axis of spindle 44 by an amount substantially the same as the eccentricity of bore 28 relative to the peripheral flange 22.

According to the FIG. 4 embodiment, the base plate 20 is held against axial movement on the spindle 44 by means of a retainer ring 48 which holds a washer 50 against the boss 40. Although held against movement along the spindle 44, the base plate 20 is free to turn thereon with the spindle held fixed.

In operation, the holder 42 on which the yarn package P is wound is placed on the base plate 20 so that the rim at one end thereof slides over element 46 and bears against the surface 30 as seen in FIG. 4. To permit the reception of the holder 42 against the surface 30, it is preferable that the base plate 20 be turned to a position on spindle 44 whereat the mutual eccentricities of the peripheral flange 22 and gripping element 46 are substantially neutralized. Thereupon, with the benefit of the knurled surface 26, the base plate 20 is manually turned on the spindle 44 until the rim of the'package holder 42 is held pressed between the inner surface 24 of the flange 22 and periphery of the eccentric gripping element 46. The minimum distance between the edge of the element 46 and the inner surface 24 is achieved when the base plate 20 is rotated to a position on spindle 44 whereat their mutual eccentricities have reached a maximum condition. This minimum distance is of a value chosen to be slightly smaller than the wall thickness of the holder 42 to assure a press or interference fit whereby the package P is rigidly gripped and supported on spindle 44. With a properly determined dimension, normal machine vibrations or similar disturbances are ineffective to loosen the rigid grip thus achieved. At the same time, the holder 42 is easily removed by turning the base plate in the di rection opposite that required for the gripping operation and lifting it away from the surface 30.

Since numerous variations of the precise structure described and illustrated herein are possible without departing from the spirit of the invention, the scope of the invention is to be measured by the appended claims rather than by the details of the exemplary embodiments.

What is claimed is:

1. A support for a yarn package holder having an axial opening therein comprising, a base plate, a peripheral flange connected to said base plate, a spindle arranged to support said base plate for eccentric rotation thereon, said spindle having an eccentric portion receivable within the opening, one end of said package holder being positioned proximate to said base plate, said flange and said eccentric portion adapted to engage the package holder therebetween upon rotation of said base plate about said spindle.

2. A device as set forth in claim 1 wherein said base plate is of circular shape and wherein said peripheral flange is substantially perpendicular to said base plate.

3. A device as set forth in claim 2 wherein said peripheral flange is arranged parallel with the axis of said spindle.

4. A device as set forth in claim 1 including retainer means to prevent axial movement of said base plate on said spindle.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,884,805 10/1932 Moritz 242-462 2,761,632 9/1956 Clarkson 242l30 2,930,542 3/1960 Cocker 242-l30 LEONARD D. CHRISTIAN, Primary Examiner. 

